


Tattoos On My Heart (And My Wrist)

by DPKhor



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 17:24:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13552092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DPKhor/pseuds/DPKhor
Summary: Kara stared at the words as they formed on her arm, frowning, slightly. The words 'postpone inspection for X-model' didn't exactly make sense, but the more she thought about it, the more she began to realise why it seemed familiar to her. Her eyes scanned the cafe, looking for the Luthor heiress, and there she was, scribbling on her arm.Kara reached over the counter, snatching up the Sharpie before the cashier could protest and wrote down across her palm: 'Found you'.OrThe soulmate AU where anything written/tattooed/scarred on your skin appears on your soulmate's + the soulmate AU where if your soulmate is in pain, you feel it too(?)





	Tattoos On My Heart (And My Wrist)

**Author's Note:**

> Clearly I can't decide which soulmate AU I like better so I just put a bunch of relevant ones together and here we are. 
> 
> Sanvers is *implied* in this story and there are mentions of self-harm. I should probably put in a 
> 
> | TRIGGER WARNING | : MENTIONS OF SELF-HARM
> 
> Okay, there we go. I hope I did it right.   
> Things have been pretty crazy and I haven't been able to get around to getting writing done on my computer, so this little one-shot had been sitting around in my phone for a while, so I figured I'd post it.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy reading this!

 

Arriving on Earth, Kara was frightened of everything that was suddenly too loud _and_ too bright. Her cousin was now older than her (?) and he only told her that she would be living with a human family; the Danvers. The first few weeks involved frequent visits, and Kara picked up English quickly enough to be able to form basic sentences and understand what her family was telling her. Kal-El taught her how to grasp her powers in the few times he visited. The older she got, however, the less he visited. If she didn't feel like an alien then, she definitely felt like an alien now. Add in her causing Jeremiah to be recruited into some top secret government agency, her frosty relationship with Alex Danvers turned absolute zero. Then, came the Kenny Li incident which did bring the two closer together. 

 

Though Kara had now spent about two years on Earth, she was still new to their cultures and, well, and apparently their linkage to their soulmates. Alex had mentioned it in an offhand comment about finding dates. Something about doodles and markings appearing on your skin. Kara wasn't really paying attention, honestly. Could you blame her though? Alex chose to talk about that topic when they were at an all-you-can-eat buffet (she was banned forever from that place, unfortunately). Kara didn't really think about it either until one night.

 

All was silent, even the air outside was still. Kara was awake, mostly because she couldn't sleep. She stopped dreaming about Krypton's destruction mostly (thank Rao). She focused her hearing on the rhythmic thump of Alex's heartbeat - and the softer heartbeat of Eliza further down the hall. She could hear the distant howls coming from the woods, and if she focused harder, the sound of cars driving down the streets. She looked over at her adoptive sister, who was fast asleep. 

 

Then, Alex's eyes snapped open. Before Kara could re-attune her hearing, Alex's mouth opened to let out a bloodcurling scream. Kara pushed the jab of pain shooting through her head back and tossed the blankets off herself.

 

Kara was at Alex's side in seconds, Eliza bursting into the room not too long after. Alex wasn't screaming anymore, but she was letting out pained whimpers. She kicked back the covers, fingers curling around the hem of the sweatshirt she wore. Kara picked up the spike in her heartbeat as Alex's grip tightened, and she gritted her teeth.

 

"Alex, Alex, what's wrong? What's going on?" Eliza asked, gently.

 

Alex squeezed her eyes shut, a soft groan escaping her lips as she tugged the sweatshirt over her head. Kara flicked the lights on and took one look at Alex's exposed arms. On both her arms, angry red lines covered her wrist, jagged marks covering the expanse of her inner forearm. Eliza covered her mouth, clearly startled. The image burned itself into Kara's mind.

 

"Oh, no," she mumbled, mind reeling as Alex stifled another gasp, grimacing deeply.

 

"It hurts," Alex whimpered, groaning. Kara watched as another line appeared, redder and apparently deeper than the others.

 

"What's happening?" Kara asked, head dizzy with worry and fear.

 

"It's her soulmate," Eliza explained briefly. "Could you get a wet towel and some water?"

 

Kara nodded, zipping out and returning with both items in a split second. She watched as Eliza coaxed Alex into drinking the water, dabbing at her forehead.

 

"Can't you give her a painkiller?" Kara asked, perplexed.

 

"It's not her own pain she's feeling," Eliza shook her head. "It won't do anything for her."

 

Kara watched as Alex winced in pain, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Eliza continued her ministrations, speaking softly to Alex, to try and help distract her from the pain.

 

"It's...numbing up," Alex murmured, after a while, breathing heavily. "I think he's okay."

 

Eliza caressed her cheek, kissing her forehead. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

 

Alex nodded, resting her head back against the pillow tiredly. Kara retreated to her own bed after giving Eliza a hug. Alex had fallen asleep soon after, her breathing evening out.

 

Kara, on the other hand, was wide awake and terrified out of her mind. She wondered if she even _had_ a soulmate. She's an alien, after all. Part of her hoped she did, but at that time, a bigger part of her hoped she didn't. She couldn't sleep, not while the worry of feeling such excruciating pain filled her. She was an invulnerable alien for Rao's sake. If she did have a soulmate, boy was that person lucky.

 

-

 

A couple of years later, in 2015, Kara was sure she didn't have a soulmate. Not once did she feel the tickle of a ballpoint pen running across your skin, or the pain from a broken bone. She never saw the strange doodles of smiley faces (or some more crass drawings) on her hands, or got messages from her soulmate. She didn't mind not having a soulmate - she didn't have to worry too much about facing ailments or-

 

She tripped when a sharp pain shot up her ankle. She nearly cursed, grasping her ankle tightly. Winn rushed over when he saw her fall.

 

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, furrowing his brow. Kara managed a stiff nod as she checked her ankle (which was completely fine).

 

Okay, so, she might have spoken too soon about not having a soulmate but, come on, ten or so years with nothing and out of the blue, her soulmate comes barrelling into her life with an injured ankle. 

 

"Soulmate, I think," Kara gritted her teeth, as Winn helped her stand.

 

Kara had half a mind to pick up a pen and scrawl a 'Please be more careful' across her arm, but decided against it after figuring her soulmate would probably be in a lot more pain than she was. Again, the alien drew the short stick in this relationship with her soulmate being more prone to injury than she was.

 

Winn helped her get settled on a chair, and Kara noticed the eyes on her from around the office. Her co-workers looked at her, some in slight amusement, most in worry.

 

"I'm fine!" she called out, gripping her ankle. Winn looked at her, almost laughing.

 

"What?" she huffed, pushing her glasses up her nose.

 

"Weren't you saying something about not having a soulmate the other day?"

 

Kara rolled her eyes, turning back to her desk to try and get some work done. 

 

As the day went on, the pain began to subside, growing into something more about a mild ache than a 'oh Rao, someone's sawing my foot off' kind of pain. There were momentary spikes of pain, no doubt when her soulmate was moving around or the painkillers wore off. 

 

Soon, at the end of the day, Kara was in her apartment, changing into her comfier clothes after a shower. She heard the door open and shut and then-

 

"I brought pizza!"

 

She grinned to herself, and half-limped outside to where Alex was setting her things down on the island.

 

"Whoa, what happened?" Alex raised an eyebrow, eyeing Kara's leg for injury (despite knowing it was physically impossible).

 

"So apparently, I do have a soulmate," Kara casually stated, opening a pizza box. "They broke their ankle."

 

Alex burst into laughter. "Wow, what a first impression, huh?"

 

Kara took a bite out of the pizza, noticing the trails of steam rising from the slice. "Oh, yeah."

 

"You do realise the pizza's piping hot?" Alex raised an eyebrow, amusedly.

 

"Well, then it makes us even, I guess," Kara shrugged indifferently. "Either way, they're really lucky that I can't break any bones."

 

Her hand jerked, and she felt a brief spike of pain, and she dropped her pizza on the counter.

 

"What now?" she grumbled as she rolled up her sleeves, checking her left wrist for any sign of injury. She felt another spike of pain and watched as a spot of ink appeared on her wrist.

 

"Oh, Rao, please don't tell me-..."

 

Kara facepalmed as the ink continued, following the feeling of a needle piercing skin.

 

"A _tattoo_?" she looked at Alex, who was hysterically laughing. "They  _broke_  their _ankle_ and now they're getting a _tattoo_?!"

 

"Hey, on the bright side, they haven't tried killing themselves," Alex shrugged, picking up a slice of pizza, gingerly blowing on it before taking a bite.

 

"Shh," Kara hissed. "The universe might hear you. I don't want my soulmate getting any ideas."

 

She picked up the pizza with her right hand, resuming chomping down on it while Alex continued laughing as Kara welcomed the new tattoo on her wrist.

 

-

 

When Kara decided to become Supergirl, the last thing on her mind was that she was going to end up fighting enemies stronger than her - and she was going to get hurt, a lot. So, it would appear than in the long run, it was her soulmate who actually drew the short end of the stick. After the first alien fight she had, she wanted to apologise to her soulmate, but she wasn't sure how to phrase it. After all, she couldn't be like 'oh, hey, sorry for all the random spouts of pain you've been having. I just decided to become a superhero, so there's going to be a lot of that. Oh, what superhero, you might ask? An alien one. Yeah, weird right? Your soulmate is an alien'. 

 

So, she pushed it to the far end of her mind, while threat after threat just popped up. She dealt with it, healed a couple of injuries and all that. Oh, right, there was the moment she carried Fort Rozz back into space. Yeah, fun times.

 

Even after all that, Kara said nothing to her soulmate and vice versa. Kara was still insistent that, although Kara would ultimately have much more injuries, her soulmate was lucky - due to her Kryptonian physiology and rarely felt the pain afterwards.

 

Enter Lena Luthor. 

 

The Luthor who didn't really fit the stereotype that came with the name. Kara immediately liked her (as a friend, of course, nothing else, pfft, why would you think anything else?). She didn't know why - but she put her absolute faith in the young CEO. It was crazy. Kara didn't know her, after all. 

 

So, why was it so strange that the two ended up becoming extremely close friends? (Kara might've wanted something more, but it was clear the two of them had separate soulmates (if the absence of the tattoo on her wrist was any indication)). Alex had told Kara once that unless the person you ended up dating was your soulmate, everything would only end in ruins - no reconciliation, and Kara didn't want to lose Lena. 

 

"...red-flagged."

 

Kara perked up. "Huh?"

 

Lena raised an eyebrow as she dug into her purse. "I was telling you about the 'competition'."

 

"Oh, right," Kara grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, my mind's just...out of it."

 

"Oh, shoot, I left my phone back at the office," Lena muttered.

 

"Here, you can use mine," Kara reached for her own.

 

"Oh, no, it's fine. I just needed to set a reminder," Lena shook her head. "So, should I go get our drinks?"

 

"Let me," Kara stood up. "Tea?"

 

Lena smiled, nodding. Kara went to the counter, placing in their order. As she waited, she felt a strange itch on her arm. Furrowing her brow, she rolled up her sleeves.

 

Kara stared at the words as they formed on her arm, frowning, slightly. The words 'postpone inspection for model-X' didn't exactly make sense, but the more she thought about it, the more she began to realise why they seemed familiar to her.

 

_"...Model-W was pretty much perfect. With the time-slot I have, I have to make a couple of changes to model-X, so hopefully I don't get red-flagged."_

 

Her eyes scanned the cafe, looking for the Luthor heiress, and there she was, scribbling on her arm. 

 

Kara reached over the counter, snatching up the Sharpie before the cashier could protest and wrote down across her palm: 'Found you'. 

 

Lena's eyes lifted, glancing around the cafe before locking onto Kara. The blonde was frozen, Sharpie hovering over her skin. Lena stopped writing, mouth slightly agape. Kara broke out in a slightly confused grin, capping the pen and running over to where Lena was.

 

"Found you," she breathed, still in disbelief.

 

Lena was still speechless, looking at her handwriting on Kara's arm. Then, she spotted the tattoo and burst into laughter. Kara followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow.

 

"Speaking of, where's your tattoo?" 

 

Lena grinned, shaking her head. "I hid it with make up."

 

"Wow," Kara raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't I- _hey_ , wait a second..."

 

She narrowed her eyes. "What was the deal about getting the tattoo the same day you broke your ankle?"

 

Lena burst out laughing. "It's a funny story, actually. It was the third time I broke a bone - so I thought I'd commemorate the event."

 

Kara looked at her, unsatisfied with the answer. 

 

"I...might also have broken the ankle whilst getting a bottle of wine - and was...coerced into getting a tattoo," Lena shrugged, still grinning. "But hey, my record was pretty clean my whole life - well, until the whole deal with my mother. What's up with you and getting beaten up all the time, anyway?"

 

Kara sputtered. "Well, I-...Funny story, see-...um, I'm, uh..."

 

Lena rested her hand gently on Kara's, smiling softly. "Breathe, Kara."

 

Kara took a deep breath, nodding. "I'm...Supergirl."

 

Lena jolted back, slightly. "O-Oh."

 

Kara winced. "...Are you mad?"

 

"N-No," Lena shook her head, laughing. "I just...oh, Lord, I thought you and Supergirl were...a thing."

 

Kara's jaw dropped, unable to stifle the laughter.

 

"I mean, who grabs coffee at midnight unless it's a date?" Lena defended, blushing. "'Flew here on a bus'?"

 

She paused for a moment. "Honestly, I'm beginning to wonder how I missed all the clues."

 

Kara ran her thumb over the back of Lena's hand.

 

"I, uh, I hope you're not upset I didn't tell you."

 

"No, no, not at all. I understand that you'd need some privacy away from being the Girl of Steel, and some way to keep you tethered, I guess," Lena smiled. "I'm honoured that National City's sweetheart also happens to be my soulmate."

 

Kara grinned. "...Can I kiss you?"

 

"Can you?" Lena shot back, grinning widely, leaning in. Kara pulled back, pushing her glasses up as she huffed indignantly.

 

"Lena..." she whined.

 

Lena laughed, before leaning forward. Kara reciprocated the action, their lips barely brushing together when-

 

"Order for Kara Danvers?"

 

"Damn it," Kara muttered, pulling back again.

 

"I'll get them," Lena chuckled. "When I get back, we need to talk about your habit of eating food without waiting for it to be adequately cooled down."

 

Kara blushed, clearing her throat. As Lena walked away, she couldn't stop herself from grinning. 

 

Lena Luthor was a soulmate. A Luthor and a Super. 

 

The world had a thing for irony, Kara thought, but with someone like Lena by her side, she was more than ready to face anything.

 

Anything except a tattoo on her lower back, of course.


End file.
